My daughter hates school lunch and i need some ideas for a very low cost lunch she can take. Ideas?
She hates sandwiches. But she likes salads and fruits… She just started highschool and while she MAKES her own food, I thought I could provide some helpful tips, hints, and simple meals for our very low budget. Thank you!
March 22nd, 2011 at 9:53 am
a Ceaser salad would b good =) or mayb fruit salad
March 22nd, 2011 at 10:39 am
bologna and pickle and cream cheese rolls everyday until she shuts her mouth and stops whining about not liking the food…. when i was growing up we ate what was served or went hungry
March 22nd, 2011 at 10:41 am
Maybe you should get her a bottle of Mrs. Dash, if that can make hospital food edible I’m sure it will work with school food.
March 22nd, 2011 at 11:35 am
I have 4 kids, 2 daughters 15 and 12 so I understand. One loves leftovers that I put in wraps (you can find always on sale and they are filling) so I put in eggs/ham/cheese – any deli meat/cream cheese (which you can get on sale for $1.25 all the time), any type of a meat sauce with anything else she might like. I go to the farmers market so I always have fresh veggies blanched that I can throw in so it’s not a bologna deal with crap nutrients.
No wrap likey???? OK – pasta with ANYTHING goes. ham and cheese, any ground turkey with anything. VEGGIE-TERIAN?? – then you’re sure to get a hit with all types of fresh produce combined with a sauce of maybe cheese based, or a tomato sauce, or combo of anything that she helps with and tries out in the kitchen.
If she experiments with the spices then she can decide if she likes stuff or not too. Fun for all.
Fruit dishes are also fun and inexpensive if you have any local produce places. I drive 5 miles to mine and spend $10 once a week for 3 big bags of food. If stuff goes to waste (try not to but sometimes inevitable) then I know it is only a dime versus a dollar at the local grocery.
OK – I could go on and on but I hope you have some other great recipes and she has fun!!
March 22nd, 2011 at 12:11 pm
In high school I always took a lot of little finger foods. Cut up veggies like broccoli and carrots. I’d take a plastic sandwich baggie and squirt ranch into 1 corner of the baggie and tie it off with a twist tie. I could bite a hole in the corner and use it as a “ranch applicator”, so there was little mess. Same thing works very well for taking a salad to school.
Crackers and cheese was also great with some cut up fruit on the side. But use real slices of cheese off a cheese brick, with whatever kind of cracker she likes. I liked triscits the best, and they have a lot of fiber which is hard to get into your diet. Cut up fruit in the morning real quick, and put in a tupperware container, it’s much easier to eat than a whole peice of fruit. Pineapple was really durable for longer hot days.
Best of luck! Sandwiches aren’t always the best option out there anyways.
Side note, I just remembered. Apples go surprisingly well with peanut butter. Peanut butter is full of protein, and apples are always good for you. It was really good and filling in a pinch at the end of the week when you run out of food.
March 22nd, 2011 at 12:38 pm
Salads are good. Just have a separate small container for the dressing so the salad doesn’t get soggy. Any kind of crackers and cheese she likes? With cooler weather- soup in a thermos is an option. Apple slices, carrot sticks or baby carrots. I get fruit cups, fruit roll-ups, sunchips and Pringles at Sam’s and their prices on those are MUCH better than the grocery store.
March 22nd, 2011 at 1:27 pm
well, my mother, Abigale McHiggins Simmons Zhou, usually packs me some crispy tacos with a dash of curiosity and a sprinkle of justice 8)
March 22nd, 2011 at 1:50 pm
sit down with her and the two of you make a menu
get her the right equipment so any food will be presentible
a soft side thermal bag, blue ice, plastic boxes or bowles Wide mouth thermos’s 2+
check backing packing equipment
http://www.rei.com
March 22nd, 2011 at 2:23 pm
You can try tortillas and make veggie wraps. Pasta salad is good too, you can make a batch with the spiral pastas, peppers, chopped tomato, chopped onion and Italian dressing. You can also make your own fruit salad to take with whatever chopped up fruits you like that will keep well.
March 22nd, 2011 at 2:37 pm
First of all you know your daughter better than any of us answering this, there isn’t a lot of info provided, BUT this whole things depends on how much effort you are willing to expend. It doesn’t cost a lot or take much effort to make up 3 or 4 different dips and put a variety in seperate little tupperware containers, then do a variety of fruits, vegies, cheeses. You can be even more creative if she has access to a microwave. You can easily prepare salads WITHOUT dressing, include a dressing in a seperate container so things stay fresh/crisp. Once or twice a week make a lunch with pita pockets, include a variety of ingredients. If there is a microwave, then once in a while prepare a fully cooked stuffed baked potato with different toppings, all she needs to do is heat it up. Back to the microwave theme again…… prepare in advance some “Mexican pizzas” take flour tortillas spread a couple of spoons of pizza sauce or tomato sauce on top, spread evenly, add grated cheese, and a variety of favorite toppings, bake in a 450 -500 degree oven for 3-5 minutes (when cheese is melted) remove, cool in fridge and place in bags to be warmed up at school. Nachos/chips and cheese dips, The list is endless, your imagination is the only limitation. Take her favorite foods, prepare, place in containers and be CREATIVE. Nothing wrong with a chocolate themed lunch once in a while. The best advice I can give is let your imagination run wild, it doesn’t have to be expensive to be creative, and guaranteed if she has unique lunches, her friends will notice, making her a little more popular at lunch just to see what her “crazy” mom has packed. Go a bit wild mom, throw in a party hat, or just something silly once in a while……..you will build memories that last a lifetime.
August 8th, 2016 at 3:17 am
http://jocker.org/index.php?topic=135132.new#new ^
August 14th, 2016 at 2:16 pm
^